HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY -- Deputies have arrested a man they say attacked a woman along the Northdale Lake Park Trail.
- Robert Hembree Jr. had been charged in unrelated incidents
- Was identified as suspect in woman's assault
- Woman was pushed down, stripped of clothing in February
Robert Hembree Jr., 31, was taken into custody Friday.
Deputies said he pushed the woman down in the February incident, stripped her half-naked and kicked her before running off.
The arrest was welcome news for people in the area, especially those worried about running alon the trail.
"It's definitely great news," said resident Allyson Kessler. "Now you can come out here and feel a little bit better about walking your dogs."
The Sheriff's Office said it didn't have to go any further than its own jail to find Hembree. He had been arrested Friday on unrelated grand theft and criminal mischief charges.
He was identified in a lineup as the suspect in the February case.
Deputies say he first admitted to throwing the woman down and seeing her naked but then denied he actually did it, instead telling them he scared off the real suspect.
"I haven't gone back by myself since, so it's really nice to have that piece of mind," resident Sonya Kessler said of the arrest.